§ Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is his estimate of the proportion of fish deaths caused by sewage pollution in South Yorkshire rivers; and on how many occasions prosecutions were undertaken.
§ Mr. MoynihanIn the past 12 months, five out of 18 fish kills in South Yorkshire rivers were attributable to sewage pollution. Several hundred coarse fish died in the five incidents. Of the five incidents, three led to formal inquiries by the water authority into the operating practices at the sewage works that caused the pollution. Remedial actions have been implemented in all five instances. No prosecutions have been undertaken.
§ Mr. Hardyasked the Secretary of State for the Environment when he expects the Rivers Don, Rother and Dearne to be clean enough to support fish; and what plans the Yorkshire water authority has to restock these rivers.
§ Mr. MoynihanThe Yorkshire water authority is working towards improvements in the quality of three rivers so that by the year 2001 they should all be capable of supporting good coarse fisheries. Some stretches should be supporting fisheries well before then. The water authority has no current plans for restocking these rivers.